“We know our customers want a mobile experience that is different—and one that reflects the ethos of the bank," says chief executive, Bruce McLachlan in a release. "That’s why we worked with a local New Zealand company, Alphero, to design an application that carefully considers our New Zealand-based customers. Our customers are also our owners after all, which gives us good reason to put them right at the heart of every idea and every product.”

All of the major banks have had mobile apps for years (ASB has led the charge when it comes to innovation in that space, with its app allowing users to pay to a Facebook friend, to a mobile number or to an email address, and it's currently trialling ​"convenient contactless payments to your mobile phone" with PayTag). But it's better late than never for the much smaller Co-op Bank—which, with the help of Y&R, officially announced its arrival on the scene last year with a big campaign that promoted its point of difference and flipped the idea of record profits on its head—and with minimal legacy issues, McLachlan says it has been able to design an app that "uses the latest technology and innovations in user design".

“We believe our application will rival those of any of the major, foreign-owned banks operating in New Zealand. It shows that we understand where the future of banking is headed, and that we’re agile enough to respond.”

Alphero founder Caroline Dewe, who was previously the chief executive of Fronde Anywhere, the mobile solutions subsidiary of Fronde Systems, says the bank wanted to push the boundaries to get the best possible user experience. She has worked on a number of online banking apps and believes that The Co-operative Bank’s is one the best on the market right now. She also believes it's taken a really bold design approach and was quite innovative and very different from other long standing financial institutions that are hyper brand sensitive.

"Our brief was to let the customers make the app their own, which has led to some really exciting innovations."

So what's so ground-breaking about it?

As it says in the release:

With one touch, the app allows customers to view all account balances, the next seven days of transactions and the previous seven days of activity across all accounts ... As well as standard mobile banking services, the app offers a view of activity across all accounts into one, easy to read timeline, customised accounts that use a person’s own images and photos [a strategy BNZ employed successfully with YouMoney]; and a ‘payment failed’ alert so people can rectify failed payments on the same day.

“Our mobile app will be no different to our face-to-face banking experience. It is based on the highest standards of security and it’s focused on what our customers want and need,” McLachlan says.

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On Monday, Whittaker’s launched its latest novelty chocolate-lolly mash up with a chocolatey answer to retro bakesale treat coconut ice. The Coconut Ice Surprise chocolate has a twist though, 20c from each block goes to Plunket – a charity which New Zealanders agree is a worthy cause. However, to relate the chocolate to the charity, Whittaker's has built the campaign around baby gender reveal parties, causing a backlash from the public who argue gender norms have expanded beyond blue for boys and pink for girls.

Genius From Elsewhere

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With over 10,000 fires occuring in South Korea residential homes every year, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance has created a flower vase that doubles as a throwable fire extinguisher. The hope is it will raise awareness to the public safety issue of home fire safety.

2

Advertisers have stopped buying ads on YouTube after their ads appeared on children's videos where pedophiles had infiltrated the comment section.The New York Times investigates the comments.

3

The internet has been up in arms about a supposed 'Anti-LGBT' emoji, featuring a rainbow flag alongside the "no" symbol. However, according to Time, the emoji causing offence is actually "an unfortunate implementation of the standards that govern how text is displayed on our device".

4

This year, Super Bowl audiences were treated to a 45-second video of Andy Warhol eating a Burger King Whopper. It was certainly a campaign unlike any before, but did it work? Adweek takes a look.

5

As of 1 March, Queenslanders will be able to include one of five emojis alongside their licence places. The options—the laughing-crying face, the winking face, the sunglasses face, the heart-eyed face, or the classic smiley face—are courtesy of Personalised Plates Queensland.

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Why we like it: Infomercial-style ads take us right back to the glorious days of old when we were sick – but not too sick – home from school and got the sought-after opportunity to watch daytime TV. There was literally nothing greater in an eight-year-old's life. So for that reason, these ads get a big tick from us. There's humour, and, despite what often happens when radio hosts venture into a visual format, it doesn't miss the mark.

Who's it for: House of Travel by the in-house team

Why we like it: Who doesn't love when brands bring back a break-out star from one of their earlier campaigns? To be completely honest, we didn't recognise Lucy on first glance, but after a quick trip down memory lane, we placed her as Miss Lucy from that singing and dancing retro campaign House of Travel launched more than a decade ago. We like the continuity of this ad and watching a man choke on his drink after a snapback from a woman doesn't hurt either.

Who's it for: Joblist by Badger Communications

Why we like it: Sonia is a dead-set hero. We are introduced to her glamorous, visor-wearing face peering out from behind a freshly-levelled hedge and the next thing we know she's no ordinary arborist. We watch Sonia as she looks into that shrub's soul and reveals the schnauzer-shaped masterpiece of her own creation. We never knew we needed someone with Sonia's skill set in our lives, but now we know we do. Thank you Sonia for showing us the light.